Democratic senator: Russia played a card on Syria, it could backfire (ya think?)

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from CNN:


_____ Best case scenario for the Obama administration is Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Russia, hashes out a solid deal to get Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles put under international control, Syria complies without pulling any funny business, and the U.S. goes back to remembering that looming debt ceiling battle . . .

"Russia has played a card here, and they think it's going to work out in their advantage, this could be a total backfire for Russia," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey.

"If at the end of the day the sincerity, the transparency ends up being that this was just a ploy, I think the Russians pay a huge consequence for it," said Menendez.


read/watch discussion: http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/12/democratic-senator-russia-played-a-card-on-syria-it-could-backfire/
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As Sen. Menendez says, the Russian initiative might be just a ploy, but the WH's cynical embrace of that initiative as the end-all to diplomacy with Syria is just as much of a sham.

Both Syria and Russia were looking for a way to forestall the imminent military strikes as the President insisted all along he had unilateral authority to launch; with or without Congress.

On the other hand, President Obama saw little downside to calling Russia's bluff and making a cynical embrace of the dubious proposal. He was set to lose the vote in Congress this week and believed he could advantage his case by engaging in a pantomime of diplomacy.

And, let's be clear; the cynicism came from the President and Kerry before anyone had a chance to express doubts about Russia's sincerity and Syria's intentions of following through.

The ploy from the WH? Present this dubious Russian proposal as the last word on diplomatic efforts regarding Syria; after Syria fails to follow through, they can then work to convince recalcitrant members of Congress that they'd gone the last mile and have no other choice but to follow through with their plan to begin bombing.

Putin is to be expected to engage in sophistry in his defense of Syria against U.S. military aggression, but, our Democratic administration is playing their own cynical game with Putin's proposal which has every appearance of leading to war. That too could 'backfire.'

[Bluenorthwest]

1. The Senator does not say 'it was just a ploy' he says 'if it was just a ploy'

there would be big consequences. It is not really fair to frame a 'if then' statement as a statement of fact.

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2. small point. I changed it.

. . . doesn't change the fact that the WH is still playing for military strikes and that they know well that the prospect of Russia and Syria measuring up to their expectations is a big question looming.

We're still in a period where the Obama administration would be expected to stall the almost certain rejection of their plans if Congress voted today, and, they're playing this dubious Russian initiative with open skepticism; with an underlying insistence that military force or the threat of it is the lever they're relying on for their diplomacy.

It's hard to not imagine a scenario where Russia or Syria fail to meet their expectations (or that of some future UN initiative) and the President decides, under his own logic and stated intention, to strike Syria; with or without Congress' pre-approval.

In my own view, this is a cynical diplomatic process in which the WH can claim that the Russian proposal is the last word on diplomacy with Syria and moves to convince Americans that they've 'exhausted every option short of war.

I'm not at all dissuaded from that view by the kabuki diplomacy we're witnessing.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Word barrage not needed, I tend to agree with you

I'm a stickler for correct quotations as a general rule of things.